Action research is a research process that is reflective in nature and typically conducted in school settings. These types of research enables professionals in school settings to collaborate on the components of a study, and allows them to search for solutions to the common everyday challenges that educators experience in schools (Ferrance, 2000). Educators can use the process of reflection through action research to better understand their work and build professional knowledge as they strive for continuous improvement (Brown, 2002). Although action research has received some attention from school review boards regarding ethical concerns associated with policies and procedures when conducting these studies, these types of research allow teachers, school specialists and administrators to explore ways to enhance or improve academic instruction in an effort to improve student achievement (Nolen & Putten, 2007). As appose to looking at theories, action research enables the school professionals to address the areas of concerns that are important to them, and allow them to see how their influence can bring about changes (Ferrance, 2000).
In present day, school educators and administrators are now asked to make numerous decisions regarding student achievement and school function. Teachers, school specialists, and administrators are held much more accountable for how schools are run and how students perform academically. Action research helps Teachers, school specialists and administrators assess the needs of students, document stages of the research, analyze data, and make knowledgeable divisions that can direct them to an intended outcome. Action research is not about researching information on a certain topic, but rather a sea...
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...wn, Beth Lynne (2002). Improving teaching practices through action research. Ph.D.
dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, United States -- Virginia. Retrieved August 1, 2010, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text.(Publication No. AAT 3047967).
Donato, R. (2003, December). Action Research. Retrieved July 29, 2010, from Eric Digest
Clearinghours on Languages and Linguistics: www.cal.org/resources/digest/digest_pdfs/0308donato.pdf
Ferrance, E. (2000). Action Research. Retrieved July 31, 2010, from Themes in Education
Brown universty: http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ed/act_research.pdf
Nolen, A. L., & Putten, J. V. (2007). Actiion research in education: Addressing gaps in ethical
principales and practices. Educational Researcher, 36 (7), 401-207. Retrieved July 1, 2010, from Education Research Complete database.
6 of the 12 teachers and 80 of the 160 students will be randomly chosen to participate in the research intervention. The intervention will last one week. During this week each of the 160 students participating in the research will receive two, two-hour blocks of Algebra instruction. In addition to these blocks of instruction, the students participating in the action research will have between four to six hours of total additional homework. Combining in-class instruction and homework each student participating in the action research will participate in eight to ten hours of total Algebra instruction in the intervention week. All students participating in the action research four assessment tests; one test will be administered before the intervention week has begun, a second test will be administered after the first block of instruction, a third test after the second block of instruction, and a final test one month after the third
Cohen, L., Morrison, K. and Manion, L. (2011) Research Methods in Education. 7th ed. London: Routledge.
Gay, L.R., Mills, G. E., & Airasian, P. W. (2009) Educational research: Competencies foranalysis and applications. (9th. Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. ISBN-10: 0135035015
Education week, 22(41) p.12. Retrieved September 28, 2003 from EBSCO database (Masterfile) on the World Wide Web: http://www.ebsco.com.
...ased on the job or actions of a person, and not because their title (Waite, 1995). It will be imperative that the leader could take in consideration how to facilitate any changes and the action to research. These two will help in identify best practices and goal setting for the school improvement.
Gay, L.R., Mills, G. E., & Airasian, P. W. (2009) Educational research: Competencies foranalysis and applications. (9th. Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. ISBN-10: 0135035015
Education in the United States has changed over the last 60 years. It started with President Eisenhower making sure Brown v. Board of Education was enforced. Next, the National Defense Education Act in 1858 was passed to improve math and science. In 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed to help the poor succeed in school. Finally, in 2002, President Bush signed into law the No Child left Behind Act (NCLB) (Robbins & Alvy, 2009, pg. 7). The NCLB change the way schools look at student achievement. One of the biggest changes was all teachers and schools are held accountable for student learning (Robbins & Alvy, 2009, pg. 7). Schools are now graded and labeled. Teachers and schools must close the achievement gap among the different groups of students (Robbins & Alvy, 2009, pg. 7). High-stakes tests measure schools, district, and student’s success (Robbins & Alvy, 2009, pg. 7). NCLB has made schools look at better ways to teach students. Schools have turned to using research based teaching practices. Schools are now using data to guide instruction. How does a school effectively assess students to increases student achievement? How does a school use this data to guide curriculum development? This paper will look at the importance of assessment in P-12 schools to improve student achievement. In this paper a critical analysis of backward design and its effect on student achievement. A critical analysis of fact-based practices that teacher can use now to improve student achievement will be discussed. Finally, a discussion of the challenges a teachers will face when creating a culture of learning.
56, No. 3 (1989), pp. 543-569. The Johns Hopkins University Press. JSTOR. Web. 24 April 2014.
Newspaper articles and websites about those organizations and the people connected to them instructional leadership. Examples of organizations such as Michelle Reed, Teach for America, and The New Teacher Project are a few (Rigby, 2014). The focus was on three out of the eight Dimensions when writing the memo notes. Number one focused on the underline assumption that all leaders share a commitment to bring educational opportunities to all students. Number two, leaders focused on the practice of instructional leadership. The third Dimension is the role of the teachers. Teacher’s characteristics have the biggest or largest impact on student learning inside of schools. The research shows that school leaders influence teachers such as with their type of their instructional leadership style they should develop trust and professional community. Majority of principal’s instructional leadership action is focused on the teachers through direct interaction such as observations and feedback (Rigby, 2014). The three largest instructional leadership research found that there was an assumption that the primary role of the principle is that of instructional leader how it is conceptualized and what it looks
Babbie, E. (2007) The Practice of Social Research. Thomson Higher Education. Belmont. (USA) Eleven Edition.
The Aims and objectives of educational research can be to “improve practice”, which may be suggestions that arise from current research. It can also help “add knowledge” which may be adding information to existing knowledge or adding to other research projects. Research can “address gaps in knowledge”, this means highlighting areas absent or which lack from other research projects. Educational research can also “expand knowledge”, this can be finding out new information or improving, existing knowledge, this knowledge can also be “replicated”, repeating previous research to certify it. Finally educational research can “add voices of individuals to knowledge”, this is important to gain the views and opinions of people within a research area in order to “understand issues within their own concept” (Creswell 2002, in Chaudhary 2013, p.2).
Research can be defined as collecting data, information, and facts to gain knowledge. Research can be used as a tool to engage an efficient approach to one’s practice and provide them with effective data to make changes based on what he or she may have learned from the research. By conducting research, school administrators gain knowledge about not only their practice but their staff members, students, and district. Thus providing the administrator the abil-ity to make more effective decisions that can bring more success to the school or school district. When conducting research, one may decide to traditional research or action research. This paper will address the differences between action research and traditional research regarding their use in an educational environment, as well provide explanations and examples to delineate their uses in an education setting.
Action researcher works in the hurly burly of her/his own practice. Monitoring closely, this practice as they act within it, demands space and time which, almost by definition, the practice does not give easily. It is therefore difficult to maintain rigor in data gathering and critique.
Viadero, D. (2003, April 30). Nice work. Education Week, 22(33), 38-41. Retrieved September 24, 2003, from Academic Search Premier/Ebsco.
Inquiry is an interactive way of learning. Students are actively engaged in their studies. Inquiry involves student-centered activities focusing on questioning, exploring, and posing explanations. The goal of inquiry is to introduce a new way of learning where students can learn about the world around them through active engagement in real-life examples. Inquiry based learning can be incorporated into all academic subjects throughout the curriculum. Science could possibly be the most effective subject to incorporate inquiry.